The award was instituted by the government during the commemoration of the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore in 2011. (Source: Express Archive photos)

The Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony for the years 2014, 2015 and 2016 were announced on Thursday and awarded to a distinguished Manipuri dancer, a Bangladesh-based cultural organisation and an eminent sculptor, respectively.

The award jury was headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and included Chief Justice of India Justice Ranjan Gogoi, former chief election commissioner N Gopalaswami and national vice president of the BJP Vinay Sahasrabuddhe.

The award was instituted by the government during the commemoration of the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore in 2011. It was conferred first on sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar. It carries an award prize of Rs 1 crore, a citation in a scroll and a plaque.

For 2014, the award was given to Rajkumar Singhajit Singh, a doyen of Manipuri dance who is also a teacher, performer and choreographer.

Chhayanaut, established in 1961, which has played a leading role in promoting Tagore’s works in Bengali culture, won the award for 2015.

For 2016, the award was given to sculptor Ram Vanji Sutar, whose first notable work was the 45-feet Chambal monument at the Gandhi Sagar Dam in Madhya Pradesh.

International award for Banka education project

Patna: Unnayan Banka, an online and offline education project started in Banka, Bihar, has won the Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management’s international innovation award for 2018.

Unnayan Banka was initially started in five schools in the district and has now been implemented in all its 143 schools. It involves teaching Class IX and Class X students through interactive concept videos, providing realtime doubt-clearing, examination and digital report cards through an application called Eckovation.—ENS